KANSAS CITY, Kan. — After spending eight hours racing on the track Thursday, Danica Patrick got back into a racecar later that night.

It wasn't at Kansas Speedway but about 20 minutes away in downtown Kansas City, where she drove a Nationwide Series show car down Grand Boulevard.

When she climbed out of the car to go to a cocktail party for sponsor Tissot, the company on the hood of her JR Motorsports car this weekend, she was dressed to the hilt in a black leather jacket, tight red pants, high heels and, of course, a Tissot watch. She's a pro at driving a stock car while dressed for an appearance where a racing fire suit is not exactly appropriate attire.

Patrick then mingled with people — talking about watches and racing — and enjoyed herself while hoping the event served as a distraction from a frustrating day at the track.

The next morning, she met with the media to talk about this weekend's races before getting into her car for four more hours of practice and qualifying.

Through it all, Patrick seemed at ease, even though she admittedly was not impressed with her speed in her Sprint Cup car at Kansas.

And that will be her challenge for the next 14 months: Keeping sponsors happy while possibly struggling on the racetrack and trying to balance the media spotlight and soap opera that comes with being one of racing's biggest stars.

Her first full season in the Nationwide Series has been disappointing in that her results don't show much improvement, even at tracks she had been to earlier in the year. She is 10th in a series where only 13 drivers have run every race. Teammate Cole Whitt has 12 top-10 finishes; she has two.

In seven Cup starts, she has a best finish of 25th.

Patrick wasn't supposed to win a bunch of races or even contend for the Nationwide title. But she was supposed to show enough improvement to silence some of the doubters.

Her two top-10s and a solid Cup run at Bristol before a crash have given fans the only glimpse of what she can do. But those performances haven't come often enough to convince detractors who believe she is just a marketing machine.

Her results indicate that she's not ready for full-time Cup competition and that another full season in Nationwide might help her transition. But her sponsor Go Daddy wants her in a Cup car next year and, in some ways, maybe it is better to go ahead and make the leap and learn the Cup car.

Go Daddy made news this week when it hired an outside agency to develop its Super Bowl ads for the first time. It is transitioning away from the titillating ads that Patrick starred in to ads that remain edgy but aren't as sexy.

That has led to talk that maybe Patrick might soon be on the outs with Go Daddy.

Sure, she gets paid big money to deal with it. But so does the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez, and he spent the last few games of the ALCS on the bench. Athletes like Danica and A-Rod get paid well to deal with their critics, but how much of a beating can one person take?

All the money in the world won't mean much if Patrick fails to qualify for races in 2013, a distinct possibility under the new rules announced for next season.

The 2013 season will test some of Patrick's best attributes. She has been very open about how much she needs to learn on the track but also wants to run well for herself and her fans. She has reacted to questions about her performance honestly and never pretends that people are being too critical. So far, she has shown a strong mind and big shoulders.

But talks about whether she will be in Super Bowl commercials for her sponsor is the last thing she needs. Questions about whether she can continue to drive the needle as far as pushing sponsor products is not what she needs to hear.

There's going to be enough talk about whether she can drive her racecar competitively. And that would be enough for any athlete to handle.